Tag Archives: curtis

Syrian Facebook users face cyber-attacks
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports on allegations that the Syrian Telecom Ministry has been launching crude attacks on Facebook users, attempting to gain access to and control over their Facebook accounts.

Russian campaigner faces criminal investigation
Prosecutors in Moscow have launched a criminal investigation into Alexei Navalny, the anti-corruption campaigner and blogger dubbed “the Russian Julian Assange”. The Guardian reports that Navalny has brushed off the case, calling it “rubbish” and saying it is the state “taking revenge for his exposés of alleged fraud at Russian state companies”.

Colombia: Following the “Lleras” Law
Global Voices’ Juan Arellano continues his coverage of opposition to the proposed “Lleras Law” in Colombia, which would place the burden of online copyright enforcement on internet service providers. A group calling itself the Colombian chapter of Anonymous has responded with cyberattacks on government websites.

US: Revised ‘net censorship bill goes even further than controversial predecessor
Techdirt report that the newly-proposed PROTECT IP Act, a revision of the controversial Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) that failed to progress through the US legislative process last year, goes even further in restricting ‘net freedoms than its predecessor. The law would allow non-state actors to seek court orders to take down websites accused of copyright infringement, and force search engines to remove such websites from their indexes.

Have computers taken away our power?
This Guardian feature previews a provocative new documentary by filmmaker Adam Curtis on the key role network theory has played in damaging our ability to imagine a better world. Curtis: “These are the limitations of the self-organising system: it cannot deal with politics and power”.

What is open? Control and the Chinese internet
Ethan Zuckerman reports from a recent lecture by political scientist Shirley Hung. Hung explains how the Chinese authorities still believe their internet is open, despite the many layers of control under which it operates: “From [the Chinese] perspective, the US is trying to export their view of the internet, while China is asking for each country to determine its own priorities and future”.